Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have found the perfect vehicle for a screen reteaming with director-writer Joe Carnahan‘s The Rip, a fresh and smart entry into the overworked cop drama genre.

Carnahan (Narc, The Grey) certainly knows his way around police action thrillers set in Florida (he wrote Bad Boys For Life), but this one feels clever enough to breathe new life into the well-worn scenarios we have seen play out in countless movies and TV shows. This one oddly enough feels like the kind of mystery Agatha Christie might have been comfortable with if she trafficked in ultra-violent gunplay, drug cartels and dirty cops. The film, inspired loosely by real events, takes a plausible situation and does a “what if” with it.

The setup is true and based on tales Miami cop Chris Casiano told his pal Carnahan. Casiano is head of a tactical narcotics squad and got a tip about a house where a lot of drug money was stashed. He had no idea though that it would be millions hidden in the walls. That sparked an idea: What if you had a squad of cops who stumble on to something like this that is well beyond what authorities expected? What if this dirty money suddenly became dirty cop money? Who would know beyond the amount you are supposed to bring out?

That is exactly where Carnahan takes us, centering on longtime friends and colleagues Lt. Dane Dumars (Damon) and Sergeant J.D. Byrne (Affleck), who are at a bit of odds with each other as Dumars is promoted as boss to Byrne and the others in the squad, even if Byrne claims he isn’t bothered by it. Things get more tense when a police captain, Jackie Valez (Lina Esco), is murdered just as she is on the cusp of breaking a big cartel drug discovery. Who could have done this? Adding intrigue is the rather open secret affair Byrne is suspected of having with her. What does he know? That is what the feds, including J.D.’s younger brother, Agent Del Byrne (Scott Adams), are wondering. It’s complicated.

With Dumars in charge, the squad — which includes detectives Mike Ro (Steven Yeun), Numa Baptiste (Teyana Turner) and Lolo Salazar (Catalina Sandino Moreno) as well as the cute money-sniffing dog Wilbur — hits the house in a mysterious Hialeah suburban neighborhood where no one seems to be around. In the house is Desi (a fine Sasha Calle), a woman who is looking after the home of her late grandmother, and who is not giving the squad much cooperation as they search the place for the suspected drug money. What they find in the walls of the otherwise spotless attic is a stash of $20 million and fears that the cartel will be after it shortly. A mysterious phone caller sharply warns them of imminent danger, and a very nervous Desi urges them to get out.

The problem is they can’t leave. The law dictates they must remain in place and count the money on site, and so that is what Dumars orders them to do, all the while in various conflicts with his team, each seemingly growing suspicious of the whole operation and just who may be looking to score for themselves. Byrne in fact has reason even to suspect the odd behavior of Dumars may mean he is looking to grab the cash. Into the mix are two other cops who turn up on patrol in the neighborhood, sparking a weird encounter with Byrne and Dumars — one that will rear its head later.

As the money is being counted by Baptiste and Salazar, Ro is thinking there is something very wrong in their midst and may be contacting the home office to take matters into his own hands. Meanwhile, another cop, Matty (Kyle Chandler), on the sidelines for much of this, is about to take on a key role.

There are so many twists and turns in this thing it is best to leave it there. The Rip becomes a classic who done it, or who is doing it, or who thinks who is doing it, and it all unravels at dizzyingly violent speed with plenty of shoot-outs to entertain you if you can’t keep this all straight. If you go with it all it is a wildly entertaining watch. Affleck and Damon are at the top of their games here, and their own well-known friendship and collaboration just adds to the gravitas of this teaming. Yeun is a real standout, as is the always reliable Chandler. Taylor and Moreno are spot on in the sensational cast which also features a nice turn from Nestor Carbonell as another fed on their tail.

Producers are Affleck, Damon, Dani Bernfeld and Luciana Damon. The film comes from Affleck and Damon’s Artists Equity, which is designed for streaming movies and offers backend profits to those who worked on the film in various capacities in front of and behind camera based on the number of views the movie gets. Just like Wilbur the police dog in The Rip, I smell money.

Title: The Rip
Distributor: Netflix
Release date: January 16, 2026
Director-screenwriter: Joe Carnahan (Story by Carnahan and Michael McGrale)
Cast: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Steven Yeun, Teyana Taylor, Sasha Calle, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Scott Adkins, Kyle Chandler, Néstor Carbonell, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Lina Esco, Cliff Chamberlain, Alex Hernandez, Daisuke Tsuji
Rating: R
Running time: 2 hr 13 mins